volcano number: 1508-141= (according to Volcanoes of the World, 1994 edition)
summit elevation: 1798 m
location: 40.52°S, 72.20°W
Lying in a remote area, Puyehue is one of the less known volcanoes of Chile. It is nonetheless of interest because its most recent eruption immediately followed, and was probably triggered by, a devastating earthquake in May 1960. This is one of the few cases of an earthquake-triggered volcanic eruption.
Puyehue consists of a stratovolcano with a wide summit crater, and a rift zone extending towards NW. All historic activity has taken place on the rift zone.
Two significant eruptions occurred during the 20th century, in 1921-22 and 1960. In the earlier event, initial activity was violently explosive and was followed by the extrusion of large volumes of andesitic lava. The 1960 eruption followed a magnitude 8.9 earthquake within three days (that is on 24 May 1960), and began with explosive activity from numerous craters followed by lava extrusion. Activity continued at diminishing rates until late June 1960.
These two photos were submitted to "Chile's Volcanoes" by a kind person from Gran Canaria of whom I only know the first name, Jose. The first photo shows a view over the summit crater of Puyehue which is filled with snow and ice, the second is a view up the flank of the volcano, but no direction is given. More information regarding the volcano and these views will be provided as soon as possible.
